Late September is when festivals really start stirring in Kansas City. Fall festivals and art festivals, especially. And as if these weren’t fun enough, the rest of Kansas City always steps up to fill in the gaps.
Here’s what’s going on this weekend—the last weekend of summer.
(Oh, and we mentioned Terra Luna last week, but heads up: Thursday is the lunar light walk’s first ever adults-only night. Grab tickets if they’re still around.)
Fall festivals
Various dates
The AdventHealth Apple Festival is Sunday afternoon from 2 to 5, and it’ll be a lot of fun for the kids. There’ll be face painting, apple snacks and crafts, and a petting zoo. No kiddos? At KC Pumpkin Patch/KC Wine Co. on Saturday and Sunday, you can down apples in their adult form during the last weekend of Cider Festival. Hard ciders and pumpkin patch fun for anyone over 21.
There are also a few fall festivals (which will surely include an apple or two). The Waldo Fall Fest takes over the intersection of Gregory and Wornall from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday; that same day, Kansas City Community Gardens’ kid-centric Fall Family Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; and Blue Springs’ Fall Fun Festival starts Friday and goes through the weekend.
There’s no excuse. Soak up the nascent fall vibes somewhere this weekend.
Peter Pan
September 20-22
Go see The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up before he leaves Kansas City. Sure, you know the story of Peter Pan, but you have to see it brought to life at Starlight.
The last three showings take place at 8 p.m., Friday through Sunday. Tickets start at $12.
EXILED: Crooked Rose Woods
September 20-21
Want to start spooky season a bit early? EXILED: Crooked Rose Woods might spook you silly. Yes, it’s the Trail of Terror, which a lot of Kansas Citians are familiar with—but this year, it was created in partnership with Darren Lynn Bousman, a Kansas Citian who happened to direct the second through fourth installments in the SAW film series. It promises to be deeper than the average haunted house.
Here’s what Bousman said about the attraction: “This experience will be more than just a bunch of scare actors in a corn maze. It will be a living, breathing thing, and it will be too late when you realize what I mean by that.” Lovely.
There are three levels of frights available, from Torment (PG-13) to Annihilation (R). Friday is a preview event, and Saturday is the official grand opening. Get tickets here.
Make Me Famous
September 21
Speaking of creative Kansas Citians, you can catch the work of KC-born director Brian Vincent at Glenwood Arts Theater on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Afterward, hang around for a Q&A with the hometown kid himself.
Make Me Famous looks at the career of painter Edward Brezinski, who disappeared before he could hit it big. In the process, it paints a compelling picture of New York’s teeming art scene in the 1980s. The film has a 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and, even more impressively, a 97% audience score.
Plaza Art Fair
September 20-22
Here’s the big one: the 93rd annual Plaza Art Fair. Over 200 artist booths with some of the most unique art you’ll ever see. Thousands of people moving about the nine-city-block loop. And somewhere amid all the movement is a piece of art that’ll lock you to the cobblestone you stand on.
Expect food, live music, and general merriment in Kansas City’s unofficial farewell to summer.
Oh, and with a big festival comes smaller events. On Saturday, you can attend the debut of the Hokusai: Waves of Inspiration exhibition at Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. (Hokusai created Under the Wave off Kanagawa, or as many know it, The Great Wave.) For a lower-key affair, enjoy the PeaceWorks KC Local Art Fair in Theis Park on Saturday and Sunday.